The FIA Foundation welcomed partners from around the world and launched three reports during a special pre-event to the fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, Morocco.

The event, 'Challenge 2030 - achieving the Global Road Safety Goals,' brought together public, private and civil society organisations to focus on the most successful advocacy, investment, and actions which can help achieve the target of halving road deaths by 2030.

FIA Foundation Chair David Richards CBE opened the event, setting out the urgent need for investment, knowledge sharing, and capacity building for proven road safety solutions. "We succeed or fail together", he warned in a call to action ahead of the last global ministerial conference for road safety before the end of the Sustainable Development Goals.

A new report, 'Life Support: Advancing the global agenda for financing & action on road safety', makes the case for increased, interconnected and accessible finance for road safety programmes to meet the 2030 challenge. Deputy Director Avi Silverman presented the report, adding, "A global step-change in financing is vital, and millions of lives depend upon it."

Youth was a major focus of the event, as Director of Child and Youth Health Atsani Ariobowo presented the 'Child Health Initiative Manifesto 2030 Progress Report', which sets out the lifesaving and scalable initiatives and impacts of our partners. The event also celebrated five years of iRAP's Star Rating for Schools programme, which was launched at the third Global Ministerial Conference in Stockholm. Since its launch, almost 2,000 school zones have been assessed in 76 countries, making school journeys safer for nearly half a million children worldwide. The event also had a preview of a new FIA Foundation-funded report, 'Protecting Young Lives: A Global Status Report on Child and Adolescent Road Safety,' presented by Shirley Mark Prabhu, Health Specialist UNICEF MENA Regional Office.

The panel 'Perspectives on meeting Challenge 2030: what has worked, what hasn't, what next?' was moderated by FIA Foundation Executive Director Saul Billingsley with panellists iRAP Acting CEO Greg Smith, UN Road Safety Fund Head Nneka Henry, Asian Development Bank Transport Sector Group Director Jamie Leather and Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT) Executive Director Bright Oywaya.

The role of the private sector was set out with a focus on the FIA Road Safety Index, opened by Alberto Villareal, FIA General Manager, with a keynote on supporting the global road safety agenda and engaging with the private sector.

The FIA Road Safety Index, supported by the FIA Foundation, increases organisational insights on the impact of operations on road safety and builds ambition, action, and results. New components of the Index were announced as the programme will expand to include five areas: commitment, footprint, planning, monitoring of safety performance and safety culture management, and supply chain coverage. During the event, TotalEnergies Senior Vice President of Strategy, Development & Research Nathalie Brunelle, Honda General Manager and Executive Chief Engineer of the Safety Planning Division Hideaki Takaishi, Waymo Director of Safety Research Trent Victor, IKEA Supply Chain Operations Head of Sustainability Elisabeth Fauvelle Munck af Rosenschöld, Scania Sustainable Transport Director Jacob Thärnå, Uber Head of Safety Roger Kaiser, and Amazon Workplace Health and Safety Global Vice President Sarah Rhoads formally received their 3-star rating - the highest achievement - in recognition of their efforts to enhance road safety.

The panel 'How to ensure highest levels of safety across organisational value chains?' was led by Willem Groenewald, FIA Secretary General for Automobile Mobility, with panellists including: Susan Hipp, Executive Director Network of Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), Matthew Avery, Director of Strategic Development, EuroNCAP Truck Safety Programme; Patrick Phillip, Director, Certification & Standards, IRU and Anders Lie, AFRY. The session concluded with a look ahead to the FIA Road Safety Roadmap.

TotalEnergies Senior Vice President of Strategy, Development & Research Nathalie Brunelle, Honda General Manager and Executive Chief Engineer of the Safety Planning Division Hideaki Takaishi, Waymo Director of Safety Research Trent Victor, IKEA Supply Chain Operations Head of Sustainability Elisabeth Fauvelle Munck af Rosenschöld, Scania Sustainable Transport Director Jacob Thärnå, Uber Head of Safety Roger Kaiser, and Amazon Workplace Health and Safety Global Vice President Sarah Rhoads. The session concluded with a look ahead to the FIA Road Safety Roadmap.

Closing the event, FIA Foundation North American Office and UN Representative and master of ceremonies, Natalie Draisin, concluded: "We brought together a diverse set of speakers here in Morocco who have told us exactly what we need to face the 2030 challenge ahead. We should be proud of our partners' progress in saving lives worldwide and hopeful that we can achieve our goal to halve road deaths by the end of the decade."